Checkered Flag
by Squirrel Stone
Summary: A new racer is close to challenging Haruka, but during a visit to see the potential competition, she discovers something interesting about the rookie.


I don't own Sailor Moon.  
>Note: the portrayal of Michael Schumacher in this work is entirely fictitious. While he is a real person in Formula One racing, he does not have any illegitimate children, nor is he as rude or bigoted as I write him to be. He is a nice man with a nice family and generally tries to stay out of the spotlight.<p>

* * *

><p>Usagi and Ami walked down the sidewalk at an unordinarily slow pace, both completely oblivious to the irritated people walking around them as they tried to quickly get to their destinations. The blunette was trying to comfort the blonde about her latest poor grade.<p>

"You should study more," Ami chided, looking over the 62%. Well, so much for comfort.

"Ami-chan, I did study!" the blonde, Usagi, exclaimed.

"Obviously not enough," Ami muttered. Despite her usually quiet nature, being friends with the other senshi had caused her to grow sarcastic on occasion.

"Oh, that's not nice!" Usagi whined.

"Usagi, Galaxia is gone, we have no powers, you have no excuse," Ami declared. "You have to work to get good grades."

"But-"

"No buts," Ami insisted. "Tomorrow, we are going to the library after school and studying. Got it?"

Usagi sighed, not looking forward to the next afternoon. "Fine," she moaned.

"And maybe you should actually _study_ during your study dates with Mamoru-san," Ami suggested.

"We study!" Usagi insisted, seeming insulted.

"Usagi-chan," Ami called her bluff.

Usagi sighed heavily. "Fine," she agreed yet again.

The two former senshi continued their walk home, discussing study plans.

Haruka frowned as she read her racing magazine, her eyebrows furrowing in towards each other. A small sigh escaped her lips, and she flipped the pages of the magazine shut.

Michiru walked in from the dining room behind Haruka and instantly noticed the blonde's concern. "And just what's the matter with you?" she asked, raising a perfectly arched brow.

"Michael Schumacher jumped one hundred points- won four races," Haruka stated simply, the anger in her voice hidden with ease. "And he's got a kid."

"Hm... is he good-looking?" Michiru joked, resulting in Haruka turning around behind her to give the teal-haired woman a brief glare.

"_She_ is on the track at seventeen," Haruka explained, bitterness seeping into her voice. "She came in first in her division, meaning she's about two steps from being in Formula One this season."

Michiru chuckled and walked around the couch, sitting next to Haruka and looking at the magazine. "Hm..." she said, looking at the girl on the cover. The brunette teen had clearly fallen for all the usual female racer tricks: her hair was down and flared out to accentuate her uniform, unzipped so you could see the cleavage of her breasts. She was leaning back on her car like she was married to and intimate with it. The look on her face could be described in one word: raunchy. Her eyes were half closed as though giving in to lust, and her mouth hung open ever-so-slightly.

"She's cute," came the final verdict from the violinist. "Her career will fall through about three races in, I'm sure. _Kagami_ Taru, huh? Illegitimate daughter?"

Haruka snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yes, and since when have you been the expert?" she asked.

"Since I met you," Michiru retorted. "I take it you're going to her next race." It wasn't a question. She knew Haruka all too well to expect anything else.

"Is that your approval?" Haruka asked, turning to face her lover.

Michiru sighed and got up off the couch. "It might as well be," she decided before leaving the room. "I'm going to pick up Hotaru. Are you coming?"

Haruka's eyes went wide at the thought of Michiru driving. There was more than one reason that Haruka was the one who usually drove. "Coming!" she quickly announced, jumping up and running out the door, not even bothering to grab her coat.

Taru hardly looked like the girl she had on the cover of the magazine as she raced around the track. Her hair was plastered to her forehead by sweat under her helmet, and she felt uncomfortably warm under her thick suit.

"Kid, slow down or you're gonna spin out on the next turn," her practice instructor warned her.

"I'll be fine; I've almost beat my record," Taru declared into her headset.

"Kagami!" her instructor yelled angrily as the brunette made her way into a turn. Before he could say anything else, the white-and-blue car began to swerve, ultimately resulting in the car flipping over onto the green.

"Dammit!" Taru yelled, ripping out the steering wheel so she could climb out the window.

"Taru, you okay?" her instructor asked through the headset.

"I'm fine," Taru grumbled.

"Good. Now WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" Taru winced at the sound of her instructor's voice piercing through her headset and into her ears. She heard the man sigh, like he was trying to calm himself down before speaking again. "Look, you know your weight makes it easier for you to spin out or flip over. Be. Careful. And listen to what I say."

"Sure, Coach," she replied, removing her headset in defeat and throwing it to the ground. She yanked the ponytail holder out of her hair, releasing it from its braid. She ran her fingers through her hair, getting the kinks out but leaving it wavy.

A harsh whistle made its way to her ears, and she turned to find Coach waving her over. Obviously he had been trying to reach her over the headset and was beginning to lose his patience.

Taru, taking the hint, jogged over to the pit, where she saw Coach and her pit crew standing with a man in a tan suit. Taru smiled ever-so-slightly, trying to hide her excitement. Tenoh Haruka was watching her practice! ...And she had just crashed and burned in a big way. The smile fell from Taru's face.

"Taru, this is-"

"Tenoh Haruka, I know," Taru interrupted Coach. She gave a polite bow to the sandy-haired woman before her. "It's nice to meet you."

"And you," Haruka agreed, taking Taru's gloved hand and placing a kiss on the back of it. She hid the smirk as Taru blushed. "That was... an interesting display."

Taru blushed a deeper shade of red. "Went into a turn too fast," she explained.

"I noticed." This time, Haruka did nothing to hide her smirk. "I thought I'd check out potential competition for the season, but..."

Taru winced at the insult. "Well, that mistake was out of the ordinary," she excused herself.

Haruka looked the girl up and down. "I'm sure it was," she finally replied. "Walk with me, kid." Haruka began to walk away, Taru coming up to walk alongside her as they headed to Taru's trailer. The brunette opened the door, and the two walked inside.

There, Haruka saw a sofa that had clearly been set up as a temporary bed, a big screen TV, and various other amenities. The girl had obviously gotten used to her father's lifestyle. "Kagami Taru," Haruka said, looking around the trailer. "Interesting name."

"Not really," Taru shook her head. "Both my first and last names are... pretty common."

"Yes, but you seem a bit different than I expected," Haruka said, looking out one of the windows of the trailer as Taru sat down. Slowly, Haruka sat down across from her.

"What do you mean 'different?'" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Haruka only smiled. "Just... different," she told the girl. "Good luck on your next race." And on that note, the experienced racer left the rookie to her thoughts.

Usagi nuzzled Mamoru's chest as she woke up. Their grand attempt at studying ended rather swiftly when Usagi asked to take a shower at Mamoru's since they were working so late.

Mamoru sighed contently, pulling Usagi closer to him. "Hm... Usako," he whispered. He leaned down, still half-asleep, and kissed Usagi's shoulder.

"I'm going to make breakfast," Usagi offered quietly, pulled away from her lover and grabbing his shirt, buttoning it around her body.

It took Mamoru only a moment to realize what Usagi trying to make breakfast meant. Much like Haruka had reacted to Michiru's driving, Mamoru shot up and headed after his girlfriend.

He walked up behind Usagi, who had bent down, her head in the fridge. Mamoru smiled wolfishly at the sight of his Usako's rear being revealed and placed his hands on her waist. He pulled her close to him, causing the blonde to gasp lightly. Mamoru buried his face into her neck, causing her to let out a moan.

Mamoru picked Usagi up bridal style, ignoring the open door of the refrigerator as he carried the little bunny back to his bedroom. He laid her down on the bed, working to unbutton the shirt she was wearing.

Before he could finish even unbuttoning the shirt, the chirping of Usagi's cell phone rang out, making Usagi let out a moan of regret. "You've gotta be kidding me," she grumbled.

"Ignore it," Mamoru ordered simply, kissing Usagi's neck.

But Usagi stayed strong, gently pushing the man away. Usagi pulled the sheets around her body before picking the phone up off the night stand and answering it. "Ohayo," she said, seeing Haruka's name in the caller ID.

"Sorry to call you so early, kitten," Haruka said, using calm voice. She obviously hadn't figured out what Usagi was doing and who she was with. "But I figured last night would have been too late in the day. I need you to check out a girl for me after school."

"Sorry, Haruka, but you know I love Mamo-chan," Usagi reminded the sandy-haired racer.

Haruka let out a small chuckle. "Not like that, kitten," Haruka grinned. "But if you're ever interested, I'm available." She allowed a brief pause for Usagi's nervous giggle before she continued. "No, what I mean is that I think I found a senshi. I could sense one of my own lunar senshi in a fellow racer: Kagami Taru."

"Kagami... I'll check her out," Usagi promised. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"Gala Race Track," Haruka told her. "Check it out after school, will ya?"

"Sure thing," Usagi promised, obviously having forgotten the promise she made to Ami. "I'll talk to you later, Haruka-san."

"Talk to you later, kitten," Haruka replied before hanging up.

Usagi turned back to Mamoru, who by now was dressed in pants and buttoning his navy blue dress shirt. The blonde pouted, wishing to get back to their previous activities. She stood up and walked over to Mamoru, ignoring the fact that her body was mostly revealed to him. It would only help her in the end.

The blonde slid her hands up Mamoru's chest, who let out a small groan as a reaction. However, he was a strong man and grabbed Usagi's hands, preventing her from tempting him further. "You have to go to school," he reminded her. "And I have to go to my residency."

Usagi let out a reluctant sigh and pulled away to put her clothes on. "You're cruel," she stated simply.

"You were the one who had to answer the phone," he reminded her, planting a small kiss on her lips. "Do you want me to go to the track with you?"

"No, I don't want to scare her off," Usagi declared. "She probably isn't the biggest fan of men- most senshi aren't."

"And just why is that?" Mamoru asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, on Earth, senshi know that they have to work harder to be respected, especially in those stupid skirts," Usagi explained. "Even if she doesn't know about her powers, it's subliminal."

"Okay," Mamoru nodded. "Good luck, Usako."

The two shared yet another brief kiss.

Usagi walked towards the security guard disguised her as an agent. "Hi, I'm here to speak to Kagami Taru," she said. "My name is Tsukino Usagi; I'm an associate of her father's."

"Right this way, Tsukino-san," the guard replied, showing the blonde to Taru's trailer. The guard knocked twice before opening the door, gesturing for Usagi to go inside.

The blonde watched for a moment as the guard left, shutting the trailer door behind him. She then turned to face Taru as she stood up. Her hair was a plain chestnut brown, no highlights or lowlights, but her hair had a nice shine to it with eyes to match. She stood at 5'7", a good deal taller than Usagi, probably about five inches. Still, she looked young, about fifteen or sixteen, despite the fact that they were both seventeen. She wore a red racing suit with her name on the left side of her chest in yellow, and her hair was loose around her shoulders.

"Hi, my name is Tsukino Usagi," Usagi smiled. "I was asked to come here by a mutual friend: Tenoh Haruka."

"Tenoh-san sent you?" Taru asked, her voice calm, but she was unable to hide the excitement in her eyes.

"Hai, but... well, it probably isn't for the reason you're hoping," Usagi replied. "Have you been... having any strange dreams lately? Vague faces, palaces where the sky doesn't quite look right?"

"Yeah..." Taru nodded, her eyebrows furrowing together. "How did you know?"

"Because I had similar dreams before I was awakened," Usagi explained. "You see, Haruka-san knows me through... well, not through conventional means. I am- was- Sailor Moon, and Tenoh Haruka was Sailor Uranus... and we both believe that you may be a lunar senshi to Uranus. I can sense it within you, but I'm not entirely sure which one yet."

"Uh... w-wow," Taru said, swallowing hard and looking Usagi over. "You're... wow. And Tenoh-san...? Wow."

Usagi let out a small laugh. "All in all, there are twenty-seven possible senshi you could be. However, we need to wait before giving you a henshin pen, just so we can know which one you are."

"Well, twenty-seven isn't that much, viewing the number to moons in the solar system," Taru shrugged. "Can't we just do guess-and-check?"

"No!" Usagi quickly objected, her eyes going wide with fear. "It doesn't work like that. If you try to use a henshin pen and say a transformation phrase that isn't yours, it will destroy you."

"Oh," Taru replied, understanding the severity of the situation. "I guess you really need to know who a senshi is before they get their powers or whatever."

"Exactly," Usagi replied. "I can have Mercury- uh oh." Realization hit Usagi like a truck.

"Uh-oh what?" Taru asked, her eyebrows furrowing. She then began looking around worriedly. "Is there a youma attack or something?"

"No, nothing like that," Usagi assured her. "Sorry, but I'm late to go to the library. I'll see you later Taru-chan!" And just like that, the blonde was gone, running towards the library.

Shocked, confused and trying to process all that had just occurred, Taru sat down on the forest green sofa, picking up her phone off the table. She pressed speed dial #1, and it rang one and a half times before someone answered.

"Taru, what's takin' you so long?" Coach asked.

"Uh, I'm gonna have to ask to cancel practice today, Coach," Taru tried to explain. "Something really weird just happened, and I'm not feeling too hot."

Usagi was panting by the time she got to the library, and she could see a mildly irritated Ami sitting in the reading section. She ran over to Ami, ignoring the pointed glare from the librarians. "Hi! Sorry I'm late!" the blonde exclaimed, hugging her blunette friend.

"Shh!" came the voices of half the library.

"Sorry!" Usagi whisper-yelled. Whispering to Ami, she went on, "Sorry I'm late; Haruka called about a potential senshi. I'm sure she's a senshi, but I don't know which one. I do know she's a Uranian lunar senshi, though."

"Usagi, it's nice that you're locating senshi, but you need to focus on your studies as well," Ami chided.

"But Ami-"

"Shh!" came the irritated calls of everyone in the area as the blonde once again raised her voice.

Usagi rolled her eyes and went back to whispering. "But Ami-chan, if Crystal Tokyo is ever going to be formed, we need more senshi to be awakened, and we need to get out powers back."

"I know, Usagi-chan," Ami sighed. Getting to the main subject of why they were meeting there that day, she went on, "If zero equals x squared minus four x plus eighteen, what are the possible values of x? Solve using the quadratic formula."

Usagi moaned in despair, yet again earning a round of hushes from the surrounding people.  
>***<p>

Taru grinned excitedly as she looked at herself in the mirror in her bathroom at her home that she shared with her mother and younger half-sister. The mirror was plain white, as was the door- in fact, the bathroom itself was rather plain, hardly an indication of the teenage girl who used it every day.

The chestnut-haired teen placed her legs shoulder-width apart and formed a sign language three with her right hand, placing the 'V' part of the sign around her eyes in typical Sailor Moon fashion. Briefly, she wondered which senshi she was. Usagi had told her she was a Uranian lunar senshi, and Taru had gone online to check out the names of Uranus's moons.

"In the name of Ariel, I will punish you!" she called, going through the well-practiced motions Sailor Moon always went through.

"In the name of Belinda, I will punish you!"

This went on until she had made it to Sycorax, when she heard a voice. "Taru! Your father's here to see you!" the voice of Kagami Kikari, Taru's mother, rang from downstairs.

Taru turned towards the bedroom door suddenly, surprised by the vocal intrusion. "Uh... coming!" she called back, caught a bit off guard.

She rushed down the stairs, slowing down as she got to the bottom couple. She turned to the left, seeing her father and mother standing in the foyer. She folded her arms defensively and shifted her weight to her right side. "Hello," she said civilly, but a bit coldly.

"Hi, Taru," the tall, bald man in his forties said. Michael Schumacher was rather proud of his daughter, not that he had the right to be. He had missed out on sixteen years of her life, from her first words and steps to her first race to her first contract. She had really made a name for herself in racing.

"Why are you here?" Taru asked rudely. She had lived for sixteen years without her father, she could make it the rest of her life.

"I wanted to talk to you, maybe take you out for dinner or something," Michael offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Taru hissed, preparing to head back up the stairs.

"Taru," Kikari said in a serious tone.

Taru pursed her lips in irritation. "Fine," she grumbled. "Let me get my coat."

Haruka couldn't stop the small grin on her face as she saw Taru sitting at a table with her father, the latter wearing a suit, the former wearing red leather pants, shoes and a jacket, a canary yellow tank top visible under the jacket. And judging by the look on his face, he was not happy with his daughter's attire. She was trying to piss him off. And by the looks of it, she was doing a damn good job.

"Michi, would you excuse me for a moment?" Haruka asked her date kindly. It had been Setsuna who had suggested they go out for a date night, even offering to take care of Hotaru 100%.

"Is that her?" Michiru asked knowingly, glancing over to Taru. Upon seeing Haruka's slightly confused face, she went on, "Only a senshi would wear a color combination like that to a restaurant like this."

Haruka let out a small chuckle and stood up from her seat, walking the ten or so paces to Taru and Michael's table. "Hello, brown eyes," she said, smiling in a borderline flirtatious way to Taru. She turned to Michael, not seeming nearly as impressed. "Michael. It seems you forgot to introduce me to this little gem. She sure is a firecracker on the track, isn't she?"

Haruka was egging him on, seeing how mad he would get at her.

"Haruka-san, it's wonderful to see you again," he feigned sincerity, remembering the honorifics used in Japan. "I can't say I'm surprised that you tried to swoop my daughter out from under me. Are you here to spy on us?"

"Oh, if I were here to spy on you, you'd never know," Haruka informed him. "I just wanted to wish Taru good luck on the semifinals. It won't be long before she's replacing her father in the rankings."

Taru grinned slightly at the praise, but she still felt uneasy around the two experienced racers. "I've still got a long way to go; I might not even make it past the semis," she said, trying to keep her humility.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine," Haruka said, smirking at Michael. "You could be the first woman racer of Formula One."

Michael glared at his rival, anger growing inside him. Haruka was, in fact, listed as male under all of her forms and papers, but he had discovered that Haruka was a woman during an incident following a tough race in London. Worse yet, she was a lesbian and was openly flirting with his daughter!

That last thought was all it took. Michael leapt out of his seat, grabbing Haruka by the lapels and shoving her roughly against the table, causing Taru to gasp. All attention in the room was suddenly on them, not that Michael noticed. And the woman had the gall to keep a straight face as he stared her down. "Listen here: you may be the top racer, but _your kind_ is not wanted here. So either stay away from my daughter, or you will be correcting quite a few papers. Are we clear?"

Haruka let out a dry laugh. "Crystal," she assured him. He released her roughly before walking back next to his seat.

"And one last thing: keep your whore away from Taru as well," he stated.

Now it was Haruka's turn to be pissed. She drew her fist back and punched Michael in the face, sending him to the floor.

Taru gasped once again and got to the floor to help her father. Though she did not get along well with him, he was still her father, and she wasn't going to let him just get hurt like that... was she? "Are you okay?" she asked, concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine," Michael grumbled as he got to his feet. "Just keep that bitch away from me."

"Bitch?" Taru asked in surprise. She knew her father wasn't the nicest person, but Haruka was her _friend_. How could he say such a thing?

Taru pulled away from both racers and stormed out of the restaurant, her hands balled into fists. She kept on walking until she had reached the nearby park, where she sat down on a bench, trying to collect her thoughts. She let out a weary breath and rested her head in her hands. So much had happened in mere hours. Usagi had told her she was a senshi, her father had attempted to reconcile- however fruitless the endeavor was- and her future mentor and her father had gotten into a fight.

"You've gotta be kidding me," the brunette muttered under her breath.

A crash down the way caused Taru to jerk her head up. She could see the end of the explosion along with smoke rising from the ground, barely hidden by the trees. Her eyes went wide in fear for a brief moment before her latent senshi instincts caused her to jump up and begin running towards the site of the explosion.

Taru stopped short upon seeing the youma standing there, its tentacles flying around, depositing a random bomb every now and then. People were running, screaming, trying to duck out of the way of the tentacles. The youma itself looked rather humanoid, with arms and legs and a head... and eight glowing green tentacles, almost like an octopus. In its right hand was a sword: red hilt with a yellow barrier between the hilt and the silver blade. The sword glowed with power, and Taru couldn't help but feel drawn to it.

"STOP!" Taru called out in what could only be described as a moment of temporary insanity. The youma turned to her as the rest of the people dispersed, leaving the two to fight. Taru then tried her Sailor Moon pose. "Ruining people's carefree strolls through the park is unforgivable and will not be tolerated. In the name of all that is good in the solar system, I will punish you!"

The youma only laughed and began waving the sword around like it was a toy. "You really think you can stop me?" it asked in a dark voice. "Me? Rikuza!"

"Oh boy," Taru squeaked, putting her fists up to fight.

The youma lunged at her, and Taru barely managed to dive out of the way, under the tentacles and to the youma's back side. However, instead of turning around to face her, the youma swung its tentacles back, hitting Taru and flinging her into a tree. The brunette moaned in pain and tried to get up off her stomach as the youma approached her.

"You will pay for making me lose all that sweet energy. Rikuza!" Rikuza raised the sword with both hands and brought it down quickly towards the center of Taru's back, but the blade refused to go within six inches of Taru's skin. "What?" Rikuza asked in confusion. She tried the simple attack again, only to receive the same result. The youma stupidly continued to try this as Taru stood up, buying the girl time to gain her strength back.

Suddenly, Taru's hand came down on the youma's, shaking slightly. Taru pushed the youma's hand, and thus the sword, down until it was at Taru's chest level. Then, the girl jerked her hand up, keeping a good grip on the sword, forcing Rikuza to release it. The youma fumbled backwards, barely managing to catch itself from falling over. Still, it stood a good five or six feet away from Taru now.

Relying on instinct, Taru raised the sword in the air, and it glowed yellow momentarily before bursting out, blinding anyone within view, including Haruka and Michiru as they arrived on the scene. When the glow died down, the sword was gone, and instead Taru stood there in a senshi uniform: red ankle boots and bows, yellow skirt, glove cuffs, center buttons for the front bow, and tiara gem.

Taru pulled back into a defensive stance, now more than ready to take on the youma. "Like I said: ruining people's carefree strolls through the park is unforgivable and will not be tolerated. I am Sailor Juliet, and in the name of Juliet and its ruling planet, Uranus, I will punish you!

"Wind Storm Collapse!" Sailor Juliet called. The sound of the attack from the inexperienced senshi signaled the end of the battle- and the youma.

As Sailor Juliet transformed back into Kagami Taru, a henshin pen fell into her hand. It was simplistic, like the ones the inner senshi first had: a yellow rod with a gold top, the gold being formed to display the symbol for Juliet, surrounded by a circle.

And all Taru could do was look up to her leader as she ran closer, a true smile gracing her face for the first time that night. She felt as though she would never stop grinning, and judging by what had just happened, she might not.

"Welcome to the club, brown eyes," Haruka smirked, knowing it would be interesting- at the least- to teach her new charge, her own senshi.

Usagi sat in Mamoru's lap in Rei's room at the Hikawa shrine, his arms wrapped protectively around her and her arms resting on his chest.

Suddenly, Taru, wearing blue jeans, black sneakers, a yellow sweater and a red coat, came running inside. "Sorry I'm late," she excused herself, looking around the room at the nine women and one man. "This place sure is hard to find."

"It's no problem," Usagi replied kindly, knowing exactly what it was like to be late to senshi meetings.

"Just don't let it happen again," Rei added in harshly.

"Now that we're all here, we can discuss the situation," Luna said, jumping up onto the center table they were all sitting around. "Each senshi has a henshin pen, as you all know. However, the ultimate power of a senshi is held within a sword belonging to said senshi. A senshi's sword will never be capable of harming them, as Taru-san discovered."

"Unfortunately," Artemis added as he jumped up to the table, "none of you have your swords- not even Taru. If you are not ready for your full senshi power, it will disappear, teleporting to somewhere else in the world. It's a defense mechanism."

"Didn't stop the youma from getting mine before I did," Taru grumbled.

"That is the design flaw," Artemis nodded. "Each of you girls need to locate your sword and be ready for its power before the rise of Crystal Tokyo. They could even give you back your powers, those of you that no longer have yours."

"We must stress that you locate your swords. You can sense them, at least to a degree. You will be drawn to them, and you must prepare your bodies, minds and spirits for the power that will come with them. Do you understand?" Luna asked.

"Hai," came the chorus from the senshi and Mamoru.

Word count: 4,914

And thus concludes our story. I figured it was a good idea to introduce the Senshi Spinoffs version of Taru, who is much different from the _Passing Notes_ version. In _Passing Notes_, Taru is a classmate of Usagi's who was shocked and almost appalled about being a senshi. I felt that it would be a good idea to have this version of Taru being a bit more of an otaku towards the senshi, but she tries to hide it, as well as being a racer who looks up to Haruka. She will be a major character in _Hero_, the premise of which is Haruka and Michiru trying to find the swords of each of the senshi but ultimately leads to them becoming more typical "heroes", fighting crime in Rio de Janeiro.

It felt rather important that I give Taru her own little introduction, rather than just insert her into Hero due to the stark contrast with the original version of her character.

Also, there are various things that need to be wrapped up in this fic. I think I have a list of the major ones-  
>The senshi swords<p>

Taru's fractured relationship with her father

The racing rivalry between Haruka and Michael (aka Taru's father)

The fate of Taru's budding career

The senshi getting back their powers, a loose end that originated from Once a Senshi

-but if you have others I missed that should be filled in, please tell me! I don't like having holes left unfilled. Well, actually, I do, but only when I have plans to fill them in later.

FUN FACT: Theoretically, Zodiac Senshi exist! There are galaxies and stars and other things in the universe named for the zodiac (Aries, Gemini, etc.), so if there is a galaxy senshi (Galaxia) for this galaxy, there could be senshi for each of the zodiac.

And now, the obligatory post-story-babbling comment: please review!


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